Epilepsy

Mood swings after a seizure is this normal?

10/30/2009

Question:

My husband had a seizure the other day and he has been very moody since is this normal? They found scare tissue on his brain from a head injury as a baby is the cause of his seizure they perscribed Dilantin 300mg a day.His seizure lasted for a few minutes and he went very dark blue. Please help I don`t know what to do about his mood swings and we have 5 children that are seeing his mood change very rapidly.

Answer:

Many chronic diseases may be associated with depression. Epilepsy in particular may be associated with depression. Certain areas of the brain (like the temporal lobe) may be the site of seizure onset and may not function properly. The temporal lobe is also involved in mood and dysfunction of this part of the brain may result in depression. Also, certain seizure medications (especially phenobarbital) may produce depressive symptoms. It is certainly possible to see depressive symptoms in people with epilepsy. Most of the time, the symptoms do not come and go, but in a small number of people, we can see depressive symptoms worsen before or right after a seizure. In most cases, the depressive symptoms can be treated by getting the seizures under control.

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